Improvement in wagon-tongue supports



L.. EgslLwpLL. Improvement AWgon-Tongue Supports, u Nol 115,1"3`3--PatgntedMayvzsyM12' di). #Non -L/ri/ovu #uw mi. M Y. (ossola/VESP/aanEssJ UNITED STATES LEWIS E, sriLw'ELL, 0E EEANxLiNwLLE, NEW' Yonx.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 115,133, dated May 23,1871.

To all whom it mog/concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIs E. STILWELL,

of Franklinville, in the county of Gattaraugus and State of New York,have invented a new and Improved Wagon-Tongue. Supporter; and

` I do hereby declare that the following is a full,

clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of thesame, reference being `had tothe accompanying drawing making a part ofthis specication, inwhich- Figure 1 is a longitudinal section. Fig. 2, atransverse section. u

Like letters in both figures of the drawing indicate like parts. I

My invention relates to a wagon-tongue support for relievingthe horsesnecks from the Weight thereof; and consists of a stiff wooden brace,77provided with a bearing on its front end for the tongue to rest on, andwhich may have either rubber, leather, or other similar substanceattached theretoor not, as may be required, for preventing anyy rattlingnoise, in combination with a' set-screw and strap attached to the houndsfor suspendingthe brace under the tongue, the set-screw being for thepurpose of adjusting the brace, thus avoiding the liability of a jerkingor vibratory motion being given the tongue bythe use of a springbrace.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the tongue of the wagon, attached to the hounds a of the `frontaxle in the usual manner. B is the brace, of a suitable length, andarranged under the tongue, with the rear end secured under the axle `ofthe king-bolt, the bolt being inserted through a hole in the brace, anda nut, b, screwed onto the bolt, making the brace fast to the axle. C isthe strap or holder for'supporting the brace, and issuspended from thehounds by their ends being' turned up at right angles and made to lapover on the top sides thereof, and then secured thereto by screws. Thestrap. is so constructed with a depression, c, in the center as to holdthe brace securelyin place, and yet admit of its being readily removedwhen desired, this being done, as will be apparent, by

unscrewing' the nut b from the king-bolt and slipping the end of thebrace oif from it and then drawing it through the strap. The brace ismade so as to have a projection on the front end, or it may be providedwith ablock, d, to receive the weight of the tongue properly thereupon.This projection or block d may have a piece of rubber, e, or itsequivalent,-

attached to the upper side of it, or the tongue may have the sameattached to the under side of it where it rests upon the projection. Icontemplate v`doing this should the tongue vibrate any therein and causean unpleasant rattling sound, which should be avoided by the use of therubber. D is the set-screw, which is fixed in the bottom of thedepression c ofthe strap or holder, the end of the screw coming againstthe metallic plate h attached to the under side of the brace. Thisset-screw is for the purpose of elevating or lowering the forward end ofthe brace, and, consequently, the tongue, to the point desired forrelieving the horses necks from the weight thereof.

The operation of this support will be apparent without much explanation,the eect of it being to relieve the horses necks from the weight of thetongue by the tongue resting upon the support instead of their necks, asordinarily, which. support can be so adjusted bythe set-screw asI toelevate the tongue to the point desired for accomplishing it.

I am aware that the use of a brace as a support for the tongue is notnew, a metallic spring-brace having been used before for that purpose;but the objection to this kind of a brace is that it gives the tongue anunsteady support, the spring causing it to vibrate toov much to be ofany practical value; therefore, it will be seen bythe use andarrangement of a stiff wooden brace that this will be avoided.

The use of the rubber on the front end of the brace is not designed togive the tongue that vibratory motion produced by the springbrace, butsimply to give the tongue an elastic bearing in order to avoid anyrattling noise.v

Leather or any other similar substance will answer the purpose as wellas rubber, but it is very probable that the'rattling noise may not beperceptible enough to require this.

Having thus fully described my invention, As evidence that claim theforegoing as what I claim therein as new7 and desire to my invention Ihave hereunto set my hand secure by Letters Patent, isand seal in thepresence of two witnesses.

The stiff Wooden brace B, provided on its LEWIS E. STILWELL. [L. s.]front end with the bearing d for the tongue to rest on, and attached atits rear end to the Witnesses: axle by the king-bolt, in combinationwith the W. BURRIS, set-screw D and strep or holder C, substan- BALLETKILBOURN.

, tialiy as and for the purpose set forth.

